A quick glance at my project list and plans for the month shows I have been moving right along. This list was begun in mid-December and just carried over to January. The last 2 things for the month concern the rest of the circles and 9 patch blocks. 
The remaining circles went up onto the design wall and I shifted and played around with the lay out for a day or so. You have to let things simmer sometimes to be sure of what you want. It helped that I came down with a stomach virus and couldn't do much of anything, too :)
This photo shows that I have a couple of sections joined.....note the layout used. I resorted to my original staggered layout for a couple of reasons. I have 3 sizes of circles because of the size of scraps I used. The mixed sizes--big, small and in-between-- looked a little "off" to me when laid out in regular rows. I had a lot of "half circles" already made for the ends and I did not want to waste them. And finally, less precise matching was less stressful for me. Or that's my story and I am sticking to it. I have a few more rows of circles to join, and then a decision on borders.
Bread.....my sourdough flopped and the starter died. The 2 loaves I made were awful and Sir Old Man put them in the back yard for the deer/birds/wildlife. The starter requires a lot of patience and maintenance to get going. I resorted to my favorite recipe for herb bread and made a nice loaf. To share......
If you are interested in making a few or a lot of blocks for the Women of the Bible quilt/sew alongs that are going on check out this source. Quilter's Garden quilt show is sharing blocks on their website and the info will be available for only 2 weeks. So download while you can, and be sure to sign up for the newsletter to keep up to date with the blocks and info. Thanks to Cheryl at Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting blog for sharing this.
And this is my positive note for the week. A friend who recently lost her husband shared this on FB. It seems someone else understands my obsession with those red birds, aka cardinals.
They are reassuring signs of hope for me and always seem to pop up when I get low. Just like the notes and comments from old and new followers, a few words lift my spirits when I seem to be struggling with the frustrations of the situation. Thank you all.
It has warmed up here for a few days after sleet, freezing rain and snow of last weekend. I intend to bask in its glow for a little while today, before I finish up those circles. Happy stitching.
13 comments:
I like the staggered layout--it is a nice effect!
That bread looks yummy! I never could maintain a sourdough starter, in spite of hubby's desire that I do it. I'd stick to the herb bread. : )
I'm curious about the Women of the Bible blocks, but I know I would never be able to keep up with a SAL this year--too many commitments in other areas of life right now.
I like your saying. Wish we had those beautiful birds in our neck of the woods.
Your circles are looking great! Sorry about your bread. I enjoyed your post today.
The bread looks terrific. You can never get gluten free bread to raise like that. Glad to see you are persevering through.
I like your circles layout. Sorry to hear you had a virus, but you made good use of the down time. Looking at your herb bread loaf makes me hungry!
I won't be able to save and print out the first block until I get home. My laptop doesn't talk to my desktop computer, and it also won't print. Oh well. Glad you thought it was interesting. Hope you are feeling better now.
Stomach flu!? Haven't you been through enough? I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Cardinals always make me think of you, but when I see them in person I send messages to loved ones, it's a lovely thought.
The herb bread looks delicious. I would think that sourdough starter would be easier to make during warm weather.
That bread looks fabulous and wishing I had some. I had read online that Cardinals are territorial and that there would only be one pair to a specific area, but we have 5 pair that frequent our feeders, and can see that there is some squabbling when they are all together. I love the sign with regard to the Cardinals and will think of that whenver they are visiting our feeders.
More circles, yeah. The offset rows are a great idea. I'm struggling with super bulky seams on the Bonnie Hunter mystery. Too bad about the sour dough. Gene may be right about waiting for warmer temps to begin the starter.
Hi Debbie, I went back to your posts of January 2016 (wow, a lot of water under the bridge since then) to read about your circle technique. You described how you use fusible interfacing, but I see from recent pictures that there is no fusible on the back of the circles, so do you trim the fusible down to, say half an inch, before you fuse your circles, after turning them? I recently fought to make some appliqué circles, and finally resorted to raw edge applique, but your circles look perfect! Thanks
Lots of eye candy in this post. The circles are looking good. We don't get the red cardinals on this side of the country, but I recall them from when I was a little girl living on the east coast. We saw a red-bellied sapsucker the other day. That's not one we see regularly, and so I'll let it be a stand-in for the cardinals. Sorry your bread didn't turn out. Both my starters are in the fridge now. I think I'll try again with a sourdough when the olive bread is gone.
The bread looks yummy; I'm pulling some more French bread out of the oven here. Yes, what is it about cardinals? They always make me think of my dad. Moving right along on those circles!
The circles are looking really good! I like the staggered layout and it's a nice bonus that the seams are easier to deal with.
Isn't it wonderful when the birds linger long enough that we can really watch them? Just last week, a huge flock of swallows was dipping and dive bombing in the river in front of our boat. I was able to observe for a looooong time with my binoculars and it was so delightful! These had iridescent blue backs and were just gorgeous.
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